Hotel Paradies (1917)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Hotel paradise |
| Original title | Hotel Paradis |
| Country of production | Denmark |
| original language | Danish |
| Publishing year | 1917 |
| length | approx. 89 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Robert Dinesen |
| script | Carl Theodor Dreyer |
| production | Ole Olsen for Nordisk-Film |
| camera | Sophus Wangøe |
| occupation | |
| |
Hotel Paradies is a Danish silent film drama from 1917, written by Carl Theodor Dreyer and directed by Robert Dinesen . The story is based on a novel by Einar Rousthøj .
action
In a small place called Kirchhausen during the 19th century. Heinrich and Emilie Schultze, the owners of a small inn called “Hotel Paradies”, are in dire financial straits. The next day they will probably have to take the oath of revelation, as they cannot pay the required taxes. A huge storm breaks out the next night, which puts a steamer called "Ivan" in dire distress. The bank director from Krakow travels on this ship to watch out for a box of gold to be transported. When the "Ivan" threatens to sink, von Krakow and two sailors accompanying him change to a dinghy with the gold box. Shortly before reaching the mainland, these sailors take advantage of the emergency situation and demand a share of the gold from the director if they are to help him rescue the treasure. Since von Krakow refuses, he is threatened with a knife. The upright man gets ahead of them and shoots the two villainous sailors down.
Single-handedly, he saves the gold box on land. On this stormy night, only the Hotel Paradies offers shelter. The Schultzes quickly find out what is in the mysterious box and what happened last night on the ship, which has since sunk, especially since the two dead sailors were washed up on land with broken foreheads. The temptation is so great for the bankrupt spouses that they simply remove the banker and take the gold box. Since they have literally made wealth overnight and can pay their towering debts, the authorities become suspicious and Mr and Mrs Schultze are subjected to sharp interrogation. Since both can credibly assure that no one stayed in their little inn last night, they are allowed to go again willy-nilly . The police suspect that the Krakow bank director is over and over with the missing gold.
A little later, an elegant lady dressed in black appears in the Hotel Paradies with her underage son Cyril, accompanied by her lawyer. She is from Krakow's widow and is trying to find out what happened to her husband's disappearance. Hotelier Schultze also assures her that von Krakow has never been here. At the same time, Cyril is playing with Rosa, the innkeeper's little daughter. Suddenly the boy runs excitedly to his mother, in his hand a cufflink that his father had worn on that exact trip. Widow von Krakow leaves the room in silence and leaves host Schultze alone. She is now sure that the hotelier is lying to her and that her husband did stop at the hotel on the stormy night and sought protection. The next day, the judiciary questioned the Schultze couple again, but both stuck to their claim that they had never seen the missing gentleman. A court hearing takes place, but the evidence is insufficient and Heinrich and Emilie Schultze are acquitted for lack of evidence. The Schultzes decide to leave the inhospitable place and give up the Hotel Paradies. You go to Copenhagen to open an antique shop there.
18 years have passed since these events. The Schultzes are now called Bremer, and Rosa has taken over the management of the business. As luck would have it, one day Ms. von Krakow turned up as a customer accompanied by the adult Cyril. The now old Emilie Schultze, who watches her daughter at work through a small window in the next room, immediately recognizes Ms. von Krakow. There is a scream and Emilie Schultze alias Bremer collapses. On her deathbed, she wants to confess her and her husband's outrage to her daughter, but that never happens. She dies before. When Rosa begins to hole up her father in this regard, he doesn't give any clear answers either, but instead constantly evades. Eventually the father dies too, and Rosa is left alone. There was a memorable encounter between Rosas and Cyril at both parents' graves. Rosa is magnanimously accepted into the house of the old widow of Krakow. Rosa and Cyril subsequently fall in love and get married. Through a newspaper note that Rosa discovers in her late mother's Bible, she finally unravels her parents' terrible secret. Ms. von Krakow herself receives shocking news from Kirchhausen: During the renovation of the Hotel Paradies, hidden documents were found that can be clearly assigned to her husband. Finally, Krakow's skeleton is found in the basement. This clearly proves Heinrich and Emile Schultze's guilt. But Cyril's love for Rosa is so great that this terrible truth can no longer affect her marital happiness.
Production notes
Hotel Paradies is one of Dinesen's late productions in Denmark before he moved to Berlin and at the same time one of Dreyer's last script works before he switched to directing. The film premiered in Copenhagen on October 10, 1917. The film opened in Germany in August of the same year, and in Austria-Hungary in 1917 as well.
In the present Austrian version, the banker from Krakow is called “Vyborg” and his son is called “Viggo” instead of Cyril.
criticism
“Only very rarely do you find such an excellent plot that alone would be enough to overlook any weaknesses. But that is not necessary here at all; because it fulfills all the requirements that we place on a first-class work. We are amazed at the director, who easily dispenses with all artificial effects, as they draw their sensations, of which there are enough here, from life and weave them so masterfully into the plot that they deepen the already powerful effect of the picture. So it moves us extraordinarily when the landscape whipped by the storm and the hurricane roaring over the sea matches the dark mood of the people who lose all moral support in this turmoil of nature and become criminals. "
Web links
- Hotel Paradies at The German Early Cinema Database
- Hotel Paradies in the Internet Movie Database (English)